244. Don’t Fear the Heat

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NKJV “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, And whose hope is the LORD. (8) For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, Which spreads out its roots by the river, And will not fear when heat comes; But its leaf will be green, And will not be anxious in the year of drought, Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Living in Tucson, Arizona, I’ve seen what extreme heat can do to trees that don’t have a good water source… they die. Even the heartiest trees that do survive an especially long, dry, and hot summer do so at the cost of producing fruit or at least fruit worth enjoying. That is without some form of irrigation or being planted near some sort of nearby water source.

In our yard we have a variety of fruit trees (I like trees that produce something). During the summer and especially when the weather is reporting an early summer or delayed monsoon (rainy) season I keep a closer eye on the trees and look for signs of distress, but I don’t ever fear for the trees when the heat comes because I have an irrigation system and a nice long garden hose. I program the irrigation to turn on early in the morning before the heat of the day and briefly again after the sun is on its way down; I also will use the garden hose to slowly deep water and saturate the trees periodically. I do this to keep them healthy and make sure they bear maximum fruit even in the heat. My trees are blessed.

Throughout the Bible we see trees being used as illustrations of people or nations. And as much as I enjoy my trees bearing fruit even through the heat of summer, I want to bear fruit in the midst of the heat of life. When the pressures and heat of everyday living (bills, people, bosses, deadlines, papers, etc…), comes we don’t have to fear. The pressures of life certainly can be overwhelming and unfortunately do overwhelm too many Christians. The heat of life causes many to wither, dry out, and even steals the quality and quantity of the fruit they should produce. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Jeremiah 17:7-8 tells us that we never have to fear the fruit stealing pressures and overwhelming heat that do come during certain seasons in life. Instead we can remain flourishing and keep producing glorious fruit even in the midst of the heat of the day. We do this by keeping our trust and hope in the Lord, and by making sure we are planted near a steady flow of His Word and His presence.

By daily taking time, especially in the morning before the heat (pressures) of the day to drink deeply from His life giving Word we strengthen ourselves against fear and distress. By taking special time to periodically deep water our roots by simply resting and soaking in His presence during worship and prayer we ensure a fresh and flourishing supply of His strength not just to endure but to produce delicious, life giving and nurturing fruit to others that are being overwhelmed and scorched by the heat their experiencing in their life. Stay refreshed in His Word and His presence and fear not.